ATTLEBORO, Mass. – The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) announced the recipients of its 2017 Spring Academic All-Conference honors on Wednesday with a record-setting 18 student-athletes on the list hailing from Southern Vermont College.

To be eligible for NECC Academic All-Conference honors, a student-athlete must post a minimum grade point average of 3.40 on a scale of 4.00 and must be a sophomore or higher in class standing. Student-athletes who competed in men’s and women’s basketball, men’s volleyball, baseball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, softball, and men’s tennis were eligible for spring NECC academic honors.

While SVC expanded its winter and spring athletics offerings to six varsity sports that are sponsored by the league for the 2014-15 school year, there were still six more Mountaineers to make Wednesday’s academic list than in any previous spring semester.

“We're thrilled to have 18 student-athletes receive Academic All-Conference honors this spring,” said SVC Interim Director of Athletics Sharief Hashim. “I love to see student athletes-recognized for their academic successes. It's easy to say, ‘academics come first,’ but student-athletes work very hard to balance practice, games, and course work.”

Six of the Southern Vermont award winners are repeat recipients for the Conference’s spring honor while another three had garnered the accolade after playing a fall sport in 2016. The other nine Mountaineers are first-time honorees—seven of those being sophomores who made the list in their first semester of being eligible.

“Southern Vermont College staff and faculty take great pride in seeing our students achieve their academic and athletic goals,” Hashim added. “To place a large number of students-athletes on the Academic All-Conference Team is not only a testament to the discipline and work ethic of the respective students, but also the culture of excellence that exists across our campus.”

SVC’s 18 student-athletes who qualified for the honor helped the league recognize a total of 210 individuals—that mark being a new record for the NECC’s spring laurel.